Tempe dad delivers daughter on side of freeway

As Matt Smith left his MBA class at ASU's Tempe campus Thursday night, he told his classmates that the next time they saw him, he'd probably have a newborn baby.

After all, his wife, Candyce, was pregnant and due in the next few days.

Candyce had been having minor contractions about two hours apart when Smith got home around 10 p.m. They sent their young daughter to stay with her uncle and prepared just in case the contractions got closer.

Close to midnight, the labor had sped up, faster than Matt, 31, or Candyce, 27, anticipated. Matt had to carry his wife to their Honda Element sports utility vehicle.

The young couple, who live in south Tempe, sped off to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center about seven miles away. Matt still thought he had plenty of time. He never suspected he wouldn't make it to the hospital.

By the time the Smiths had reached Loop 202 near Dobson Road, Candyce told Matt to pull over. The baby was coming.

Matt clicked on his hazard lights and went around to the front passenger side, where Candyce was sitting.

"I opened the door, the phone on 911 clenched between my ear," Matt said. Candyce was "very calm, but you could tell that this was not our plan."

The 911 dispatcher was giving Matt directions and Mother Nature took care of the rest. Within minutes, Matt was holding his newborn baby girl.

"When I heard my baby crying, I knew she was breathing," Matt said.

Paramedics arrived shortly afterward.

Once he certain the paramedics were taking care of both his "girls," Matt fell down on the side of the freeway and started to cry.

One of the paramedics put his arm on Matt's shoulder and said, "Good job, dad, you did it."

It was a rare tender moment at the side of the interstate, Matt said.

"It was late at night, under a full moon," he said. "I watched them put my wife on a gurney and lifted my baby into the ambulance."

The Southwest Ambulance paramedics, whom Matt described as angels in uniform, escorted the family to Mercy Gilbert, where they were greeted with cheers.

"The medic told me that (a Chandler hospital) is just down the street, but not every thought you need to have pops into your head in a moment like that," Matt said with a laugh.

The Mercy Gilbert nurses suggested the Smiths name the baby Santana after the San Tan Freeway where the newborn took her first breath.

But the Smiths decided that Stella St. Clare worked better. The baby weighed in at 7 pounds 11 ounces.

"We'd rather have a freeway named after her than name her after a freeway," Matt said. "I felt very blessed and was thanking God that we made it."